I

I am an American fighting man.
I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

II

I will never surrender of my own free will.
If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.

III

If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available.
I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape.
I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

IV

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners.
I will give no information or take part in any action
which might be harmful to my comrades.
If I am senior, I will take command. If not I will obey the lawful orders of
those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

V

When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war,
I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth.
I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability.
I will make no written statements disloyal to my country
and its allies or harmful to their cause.

VI

I will never forget that I am an American fighting man,
responsible for my actions, and dedicated
to the principles which made my country free.
I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.


Noel Gibeson

 
WASHINGTON, DC - When we negotiate from a position of weakness, the result is the same every time; more weakness. The once great nation of Great Britain has been seized politically by the Lefties and is now weaker than at anytime in its glorious history. The terrorists knew it and now the world knows it. That is why Iran planned and executed the abduction of British sailors and marines in Iraq’s territorial waters.

Britain once had a navy that ruled the seas of the world, unchallenged by any nation. Today with continued Leftie budget cuts, the British navy will soon be the size of Belgium’s navy and virtually no more than a coastal defense force. At a time when the terrorist threat continues to grow, navies in Britain and Europe continue to downsize.

What message does that send to the terrorists? Answer: It is time to play.

And what kind of conduct did the British marines and sailors exhibit during their brief capture by the enemy; certainly it was not defiance. Since when do prisoners seemingly cooperate with the enemy during their media moments?

American servicemen after the Korean War adopted and used the creed listed below. During the Korean War prisoners were subjected to torture and brainwashing a la the Manchurian Candidate. The creed was adopted to steel servicemen toward their enemy.

During Vietnam POWs, despite severe physical torture, routinely defied their captors and sent subliminal messages of defiance back home to the states when they were shown on TV. Today, Vietnam servicemen like William Stockdale and John McCain serve as examples for all on how to conduct themselves once captured.

Perhaps the British armed forces need to adopt a similar creed after the shameful display put on by their servicemen and woman during this hostage ‘crisis.’

Creed of the American Fighting Man

I

I am an American fighting man.
I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

II

I will never surrender of my own free will.
If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.

III

If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available.
I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape.
I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

IV

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners.
I will give no information or take part in any action
which might be harmful to my comrades.
If I am senior, I will take command. If not I will obey the lawful orders of
those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

V

When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war,
I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth.
I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability.
I will make no written statements disloyal to my country
and its allies or harmful to their cause.

VI

I will never forget that I am an American fighting man,
responsible for my actions, and dedicated
to the principles which made my country free.
I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

However, even worse than the conduct of the British sailors and marines, was the conduct of the British Navy, the Ministry of Defence, and the government of Britain.

The commander of the HMS Cornwall stood by as Iranian gonzos in boats took his sailors and marines captive. Instead, he should have blown them out of the water before they even reached the British sailors and marines who were clearly in Iraqi waters. He should never have called the Ministry of Defence to ask for instructions.

The Ministry of Defence was in la-la land; completely clueless in this situation. What kind of rules of engagement allow the capture of British forces in another nation’s waters instead of protecting them. This is what happens when the government feels that they must remotely micromanage war; something any government is never capable of doing.

And the British government is not off the hook either. Why did they have to go groveling to the Iranian terrorists to beg to get their servicemen back? When you start from a position of weakness, you finish in a position of weakness.

Are there lessons for the British, the EU and the US to learn from this disgusting incident? Most certainly there are. Will any of them learn from it; probably not?

Noel Gibeson

Oftentimes in life we are confronted with difficult choices; choices between good and evil, or between evil and greater evil. However, the choice between evil and greater evil may be the time when we may be most challenged, most tried.

In confronting the evil of Jihadism, we are confronted by evil at its worst. To believe otherwise would be naïve. But there are those who would say just that; that we are more evil than the Jihadists. Those are the ‘appeasers’ and they are scary and dangerous people. In western democracies they can be found on the Left.

These photographs were taken at the ‘Religion of Peace’ (or Islamic) demonstration on February 6, 2006 outside the Danish Embassy in London, England. The word ‘islam’ derives from the Arabic root, sin-lam-mim, which carries the basic meaning of safety and peace. This demonstration was the result of a Danish newspaper publishing a cartoon of Mohammed that Muslims found offensive. During this period Muslims murdered a number of people in different parts of the world because of the cartoon, including a Catholic priest.

In the United States and elsewhere in the Western world, we value our freedom, including the right of free speech. We realize that sometimes, perhaps even oftentimes, someone’s right to free speech may trample on values that another person holds dear. For example, in the U.S. sometimes protesters will burn an American flag as part of their protest. Other people find this offensive; I know I certainly do as a former career U.S. Marine Corps officer. However, I would fight to protect their right of free expression.   Here is the rest of the story….

Noel Gibeson
RNC member

Those of you who might not know the man on the left; he was then Commandant of the Marine Corps and he is proud to know the man on the right; Captain Brian Chontosh.

Maybe you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored the uniform he wears. He is Brian Chontosh, Churchville-Chili Central School, Class of 1991, graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a husband and about-to-be father who was then a first lieutenant and is now a captain in the United States Marine Corps and a genuine American hero.

At 29 Palms in California, Brian Chontosh was presented with the Navy Cross for gallantry against the enemy. The Navy Cross is the second highest award for combat bravery the United States can bestow. Here is the rest of the story…

Noel Gibeson

Last night NBC Nightly News actually carried a positive news story about the war in Iraq. This, in itself, is news.

Kudos go to anchor Brian Williams and the news staff at Nightly News. Yes, there have been and continue to be, positive actions in Iraq conducted by the U.S. military. This word needs to get out. Most Iraqis know and understand this.   

More about this: http://instapundit.com/archives2/003122.php

Noel Gibeson

Al Gore is, well, almost as bad as John Kerry, but now it seems that Kerry has finally learned to keep his mouth shut, at least for now. Not so much Al Gore.

At the recent Academy Awards Al Gore won an Oscar for best documentary film; too bad the film and book are convenient lies based on a political agenda rather than good science. But that has never stopped the Left. As with most on the Left, global warming and environmentalism are the cause celeb; their rallying cry and organizing concept. It is also the Left's religion. An Inconvenient Truth blames Man for global warming and forecasts dire consequences for the world unless we reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the next ten years. More...

 Noel Gibeson

Any defeatist sense-of-Congress resolution, including any resolution that includes setting benchmarks, undermines our troops fighting in Iraq, General Petreus' new mission and our need to win in Iraq.

Such resolutions only help our enemy to last longer because the enemy realizes that America is weak and our collapse is imminent. They will try to out last us.

This is equally as bad as what the traitor Jane Fonda did in Vietnam to aid our enemy there against our own troops. We remember and she is not off the hook on that one either. Congressmen and senators of both parties who vote for these resolutions fall into the same category as Jane Fonda.

We will remember such politicians, including Republican politicians, in the next election cycle. We will deal with them when they want our money and our vote for the 2008 election: they won't get either. Take the pledge at: http://www.thenrscpledge.com/

Any resolution from Congress should be to support victory in Iraq and nothing less.

Noel Gibeson

Posted by Hugh Hewitt  | 11:59 PM

When the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. forces initially fought the standing armies, such as they were, of those two nations. As expected, they were defeated in relatively short order and then the insurgency began as the remnants of these regular forces melted into the landscape. The lack of any viable follow-on civil plan once the initial fighting concluded meant that the army and police of the previous regimes were now unemployed. They formed the nucleus for today’s insurgency.

But they had plenty of help. Regional pan-Islamists aware of the new power vacuum rushed to fill this gap by rallying others to fight the Crusaders returning to the lands of Saladin. They had plenty of volunteers. Afterall, when the Crusaders returned to the Middle East during the first Gulf War they hadn’t they established U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia? And that is on top of the American contractors who have been in Saudi Arabia for decades. Those initially came to drill for oil and never left in one of Islam’s most holy areas; Saudi Arabia. Now, wasn’t this – the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq – just more Crusaders/invaders coming to solidify their grasp. Afterall, aren’t they here because they want our oil and to corrupt our culture.

Mindful that American culture today is full of blatant sex, violence, drugs and unnatural sex practices that now includes, of all things, homosexual marriage; the conservative Muslim world wants no part of it. Their general attitude is to say, “Send us your Levis and music CDs, but keep all the rest.” Conservative Christian Americans can also appreciate the depths to which American culture has sunk. In this, conservative Americans and Muslims have a common ground, but there are vast differences in other areas, particularly when it comes to the Islamists’ quest to establish a Caliphate.

A modern day caliphate would model itself after the historical Abbasid Caliphate that existed from 750 to 1258 AD in which Islam, through conquest, established itself as the dominate empire in the world and in the Middle East that included parts of modern day Spain, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Yemen. The envisioned modern day caliphate would expand previous boundaries to include Europe, North and South America, and Asia; in other words, world domination. Bin Laden sees the new caliphate being headquartered in Baghdad because of Baghdad’s historical significance.

But first things first. The United States is still fighting two proxy wars fought with Muslim volunteers from all over the Middle East and elsewhere. The insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq are being supplied with money, weapons, ammunition and people from Iran and Syria.

If the Bush Administration did not understand what it was getting the United States into when it invaded these two countries, the historical significance was never lost on the Muslims who have always believed that the infidels, in league with dreaded Israel, would be coming to conquer and dominate them. Afterall, isn’t that what Satans do?

But the question that the Bush Administration should have asked is this: If we are fighting mere proxies (and not Iran and Syria directly) can we ever win?

Noel Gibeson

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

You will soon unveil your long-anticipated new Iraq strategy, a new way forward if you will. But two things will be almost certain; first, you will want to stay and to win; and, two; you will want to commit up to 20,000 additional troops to do this. You must resist these impulses and, instead, do the right thing. That means withdrawing our forces now before more are killed while the terms are still favorable to the U.S.

Many of us are old enough to have learned the lessons of another time – the Vietnam Undeclared War. Do not do what Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford did; prolong an unnecessary war resulting in 58,000 U.S. killed and many more destroyed physically and mentally and then being forced to withdraw under pressure. Do not be so arrogant as to believe that it could not happen to you because it can.

You must be bigger than they were. You must demonstrate superior vision, now, in your time of decision. You must have uncommon courage and resolve now to do the right thing now; to turn Iraq completely over to the Iraqis and let them run their country. Your efforts have resulted in two free elections and the establishment of a parliamentary form of government. These are tremendous achievements. Now, it is up to them, the Iraqis, on how it turns out and not the United States.

The United States has accomplished all that can be accomplished in that country now that it is involved in a civil war. That is their business, not ours. They are on their own.

Vietnam cost this country 58,000 U.S. servicemen’s deaths because we stayed too long, had no good strategy to win and lost the support of the American people and many in the U.S. Congress. DO NOT let this happen again!

More than 3,000 U.S. servicemen have died in Iraq so.

Are we seriously entertaining the thought of sending in more troops; for what, to referee a civil war or, to train more members of the Muqtada al-Sadr death squads, i.e. Baghdad police? Why; so more of our troops can die before we finally withdraw as losers under a new Democratic Party president in 2009? Do you want this to be your legacy or do you want to withdraw now under your own terms so Iraqis can control their own destinies?

The decision is yours and you must make the correct choice if history is to remember you favorably in this matter.

s// Noel Gibeson
Ordinary Citizen

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI, where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperons piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys from?"

I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, cheese heads, and I will tell you a story."

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington , DC , to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible Monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. Here are his words that night.

"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin . My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called "Flags of Our Fathers". It is the story of the six boys you see behind me. "Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game.

Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old.

(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.

"The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32...ten years after this picture was taken.

"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.

"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

"You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.

"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

"So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's sacrifice.

// Provided by an anonymous contributor....

REMINDER FOR ALL OF US:

Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day. You are free because some vet died to keep you free.

Great story - worth your time. Please pass on.  Noel Gibeson

Three years ago I had the privilege of introducing Jeane Kirkpatrick to an audience at Georgetown University. Later, while having lunch with her, she recommended a book that changed my life and my perspective on the world. That book was R.J. Rummel's Death By Government. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in pursuing the truth.

Corks are popping all over the Middle East with the release of the ISG report. Islama-facists are now rejoicing at the confirmation that their strategy is working and all that they need to do is to stay-the-course until the U.S. withdraws with its tail between its legs. Today they are now more emboldened than they were the day before the ISG released its report.

The ISG, composed of veteran Washington politicians, but no general military officers or anyone who has actually served in the military in Iraq, did what politicians do best; sniff the wind to see which way the wind is blowing. This report reflects those proclivities.

And what do the troops in Iraq feel about the release of the ISG report? Most of them want to stay and finish the job that they started and that took some of their own. And most parents who lost a child in Iraq also want to see the job finished. Here is one example from one of Senator John Kerry’s “stuck in Iraq” soldiers named T.F. Boggs, an Army sergeant and blogger:

“What we should and should not do: An Authoritative Voice... After watching the Iraq Survey Group press conference today I am a firm believer that all politicians are idiots. Okay well not all of them but they all have a problem understanding reality. If any politician is reading this now feel free to email me and we'll go out for coffee and I'll further explain. But I digress.” More…..

The release of this report falls on the heals of the confirmation of the appeasement Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. At least two Republican senators had the gumption to vote against him; Senators Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Three lawmakers - Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. - did not vote. Interesting enough, all Democratic senators that voted, voted to confirm Robert Gates. What does that tell you?

No one likes being in an ill-begotten war in the first place, but that is not where we are today. Today we stare strategic defeat in the face not because of military failure, but because of squeamish, weak –kneed politicians in Washington DC.

If the President were to accept and to carryout all 79 mind-numbing recommendations as a comprehensive approach, as the ISG recommends, the United States would remain mired in the Middle East for decades to come. The ISG Report is available here: www.usip.org/isg

Instead, the U.S. should do what it didn’t do in the first place after the Administration decided to invade Iraq: get in and get out as swiftly as possible to prevent this predictable insurgency that we now see today.

Now this “swift strategy” needs to be applied to end our folly in Iraq, but only after a very brief period to allow the freely-elected, democratic government of Iraq to gain control of the security situation. The Islama-facists, supported by Iran and Syria, will do everything they can to ensure that the Iraq government fails in their efforts to establish security and control and they could prevail. And they will definitely prevail if the cut-and-run Democrats and others have their way.

With regard to future regional interests, we must be mindful that the Islamic Republic of Iran declared war on the United Sates in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter’s watch and remains at war with the U.S. today. All options must remain on the table with a state that has declared war on us. None should be taken off the table at confirmation hearings.

The strategic end-state is the only thing that the U.S. should be focused on at this point. And the successful strategic end-state means getting out of Iraq as soon as possible after the Iraq government has control of their security situation. This would spell success both for the U.S. and for Iraq.

Noel Gibeson

SENATOR JOHN KERRY
304 RUSSELL
SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510

DEAR SENATOR KERRY:

WE ARE STILL LAUGHING OVER HERE IN IRAQ AT YOUR JOKE ABOUT THE TROOPS BEING DUMB. WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE A LOT SMARTER THAN WE ARE BECAUSE YOU WERE ABLE TO GET OUT OF COMBAT IN THREE MONTHS. THIS IS WHY WE ARE SEEKING YOUR ADVICE. PLEASE GIVE US GUIDANCE.

1.) WHERE IS THE LEAST PAINFUL AREA ON THE BODY TO INFLICT A WOUND?

2.) DOES IT HAVE TO BLEED OR WILL A SCRATCH DO?

3.) WHERE DO YOU GET THE FORMS TO FILL OUT RECOMMENDING YOURSELF FOR A PURPLE HEART?

4.) DO YOU NEED A WITNESS? IF SO, HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

5.) ARE THREE PURPLE HEARTS STILL GOOD FOR A TRIP HOME?

6.) WHAT IS A REALISTIC PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH TO ACQUIRE THESE WOUNDS? LESS THAN THREE MONTHS SOUNDS A LITTLE SUSPICIOUS EVEN TO US.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP AND KEEP THE JOKES COMING.

S// JUST A DUMB G.I.